Lorenzo Mays, who is intellectually disabled, spent years lost in a criminal justice system in California that too often fails people with developmental disabilities and mental illness.
Newly acquired state data shows that the Corrections Department transferred patients with serious mental illnesses an average of five times over a six-year period, underscoring a CalMatters’ investigation this year that revealed the practice and raised questions about the harm it could cause.
A bill that passed the Assembly would create a “community campus” on prison grounds where inmates cook their own food and secure jobs before their release.
On this week’s podcast, Rosemary Chávez tells us her story. From losing her father at 5 and getting into law school without an undergraduate degree to finding a new job that allows her to share her extensive knowledge of criminal law with those in need.
As a child, Norman Perdon suffered years of trauma, something a parole board should know when he’s up for consideration, his family said this week.
While awaiting his murder trial, Adrian Berumen volunteered to live with mentally ill inmates. His experience caring for them could shape the jail system’s future.
The summit, conceived by interns in the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office, snagged high-profile speakers for their event exploring careers in criminal justice.
Committee members recommended that driving without a license and driving with a suspended license based on a previous failure to pay a fine or appear in court be reduced from misdemeanors to infractions, with reduced fines and fees.
The law has been used in Long Beach and elsewhere to charge defendants with murder even if they had no idea the killing was about to happen.
Long Beach has joined more than 100 other cities as part of the White House’s Data Driven Justice Initiative (DDJ), a program aimed at addressing gaps in the current system and providing a sustainable solution to recently released prison populations, city officials announced today.
